Basketball Dragon

Chapter 152 Strong start
The dust settled after the last game of the top eight in the Eastern Conference. The Pistons ranked No. [-] early, the Heat No. [-] all the time, and the Knicks, Cavaliers and Nets who had just confirmed their third to fifth places. The Wizards won the Pistons in the last game Becoming sixth, the Pacers and the Bulls have the same record, because the Pacers ranked seventh because of the outcome, while the Bucks lost the last game and fell to ninth with a difference of one game and missed the playoffs.

Unlike the three to eight in the Eastern Conference that were not determined until the last day, the top eight in the Western Conference were determined a few days earlier.

The defending champion Spurs ranked first, the Suns second, and the Nuggets third, while the Mavericks, who won 60 wins in the Western Conference and second in the Western Conference, could only rank fourth because they were in the same division as the 64-win Spurs. Grizzlies, Clippers, Lakers, Kings.

The scoring leader was won by Kobe Bryant with an average of 35.4 points per game, which is a rare high score in recent years. Reelected, the winner is Steve Nash, the block leader is Marcus Camby, and the steal leader is Gerald Wallace, but he also failed to help the Bobcats enter the playoffs.

The Knicks had three days to adjust before Game [-] of the playoffs. Their last two injured players also recovered well and could return at the beginning of the playoffs.

On April 4nd, the 22-2005 season NBA playoffs officially started. The first day of the game did not include the Knicks, but because the Rockets did not enter the playoffs, domestic fans focused all their attention on the East, and the Knicks were also affected. received enormous attention.

For this situation, the Knicks players are very happy. After all, no one dislikes the fact that there are more fans. Some players even have commercial contracts from across the ocean, which surprises them very much.

In the four games on the first day of the playoffs, in the game between the Nuggets in the Western Conference and the Clippers, Anthony hit the iron continuously in the last quarter, allowing the Clippers to succeed in the next game. The Spurs showed their power and abused the Kings by 34 points.

The Eastern Heat easily killed the Pacers, Jermaine O'Neal was still not as good as O'Neal, the Cavaliers James showed off his power and achieved a triple-double, and Carter felt a little old in front of him.

On the second day of the playoffs, the Knicks played against the Wizards at home, and their playoffs officially started.

The Wizards have reached the playoffs for the second consecutive year, and they are also looking forward to a breakthrough.

The game started amidst the cheers of the New York audience, the Knicks won the jump ball, Francis dribbled the ball halfway and gave it to Marbury, Li Hai came to cover, Marbury was only at 45 degrees. He plunged in, then tossed the ball out, and Li Hai made a steady mid-range shot near the free throw line.

Unlike the Knicks who pursued tactical details at the beginning of the game, the Wizards directly began to wildly try three-pointers.

Caron Butler, who took the lead, took advantage of Butler's height at the No. 2 position. He was much higher than Marbury, but this advantage was not obvious outside the three-point line. Under Marbury's interference, he also struck iron.

The Knicks were not in a hurry to get the rebounds. The playoffs are different from the regular season. They first have to test the opponent's determination, and they will play more cautiously in the first half.

After Francis dribbled the ball to the frontcourt, he also hoisted into the inside, allowing Eddie Curry to attack. The Wizards' inside Brandon Haywood defended fairly well, and Eddie Curry turned over and missed a shot.

It was the Wizards' turn to attack, and Antawn Jamison, who was facing Li Hai, slipped past the baseline and ran towards the three-point line. Jamison has a height and a strong body, but he likes to shoot outside the three-point line. It was also influenced by the Wizards' outside play.

After Arenas delivered the ball, Jamison was also very decisive, taking the ball as soon as he caught it, while Li Hai had already seen the opponent's intention, and blocked the opponent's shot at the same time.

He was faster than Jamison, and even if he was slightly blocked, he arrived at the defensive position in time.

Li Hai perfectly cut off Jamison's shooting line, and Jamison made a three-pointer.

The Knicks were still not in a hurry after getting the rebound. They passed the ball to Eddie Curry after half court. However, Heywood's posture was very stable during the retreat.

At this time, Li Hai ran back to get rid of Jamison. Eddie Curry just felt that he was using a little too much strength in the confrontation. Seeing Li Hai running over, he immediately passed the ball.

For Eddie Curry, this simple pass is the result of the team being trained countless times, and it may not be possible to pass it any more complicated.

After receiving the ball, Li Hai took a step beyond the three-point line. After Jamison rushed over, he made a steady shot. The basketball hit the net in response, attracting cheers from the home audience.

Li Hai's three-point shooting rate is one of the three with the highest shooting percentage in the Knicks. The other two are Francis and Jaylen Rose. Crawford and Richardson with the most hits can only be considered average, relying entirely on explosion.

The Knicks have entered the state very steadily, while the Wizards feel a little troublesome.

When Arenas saw that his teammates hadn't scored, he immediately launched an offensive mode. He is one of the few star players in the league who is fully fired at the beginning. He just let his teammates play first because it was the first game of the playoffs, and he planned to hold back.

Since his teammates are not in good condition, Arenas's restraint was immediately defeated.

After he used his superb pull-up jumper to give the Wizards the lead, the Wizards stabilized their mood.

It has always been difficult for the Knicks' back line to defend players like Arenas. Under his continuous attacks, the scores of the two sides were tightly locked.

It’s just that in terms of defense, the Wizards are much worse than the Knicks. After a year of training by Larry Brown and a defensive leader like Li Hai, although the Knicks are not yet the top defensive team in the league, they are still average. On the upper side, the Wizards can only be on the lower side of the middle.

When their main force is on the court, they can still use offense instead of defense, but when entering the rotation time, the Wizards' weaknesses on both ends of the offense and defense are exposed.

The Knicks' bench lineup continued the offensive of the main lineup under the leadership of Crawford, while the Wizards' bench lineup seemed a little weak.

In this regard, I would like to thank Larry Brown for his coaching. If the Knicks also had a few core players like the Wizards who took most of the team's shots, their bench lineup would not play so well, especially the team's few rookie player.

In the first quarter, the Knicks led by 10 points. They used smooth performances to announce to everyone that this year's Knicks are different.

(End of this chapter)